Check the original report at the https://figleaf.com/blog/privacy-guides/the-state-of-privacy/

1. The State of
Privacy
Internet users’ privacy concerns and what
they’re doing about it

2. In March 2018, FigLeaf commissioned a deep-dive survey into the internet
habits, concerns and pain points of global consumers across five countries:
Australia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The
ultimate goal of the survey was to understand how users’ privacy beliefs aligned
with their actions (or lack thereof). As we gathered more than 7,500 consumer
responses, the gravity of privacy became clear:
More than 80% of all participants agreed that
their personal online privacy is an important
issue.
For an array of users, online privacy is not only becoming more important, but
also becoming more difficult to achieve. In this report, we’ll delve into the
reasons why consumers are expressing an increase in concerns around privacy,
what they’ve chosen to do about it and what areas they are overlooking, and
why it’s important for every consumer to pay attention now.
88%
84% 83%
79%
France Germany United States Australia United Kingdom
78%
Source: GFK survey among 7,528 online users (18+ years) in 5 countries (AUS, FR, DE, UK, US) – International
average is weighted based on the size of each country proportional to the countries | *On a scale from
1=strongly agree to 5=strongly disagree
THE IMPORTANCE OF PRIVACY IN FIGURES - TOP 2 BOX*

3. Consumers are troubled by a variety of
concerns as they browse, shop and share
online.
The three most common pain points among respondents across all five
countries were related to finances: hacking of their bank accounts, fraud
transactions, and misuse of their credit and debit cards.
We assume that this is due to the reason, that finances are directly tied to our
most basic needs: food, shelter and health. Users may feel that the hacking of
social media and general personal information online, while invasive, is less
problematic to their everyday lives.
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Feeling of Protection – Top 2 Box*
Importance
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP PRIVACY CONCERNS?
Finance-related
1
Hacking of my
bank accounts
5
Hacking of my social accounts
6
Hacking of my
e-mail accounts
4
Misuse of my
credit cards
2
Fraud transactions
7
My personal data is accessible
to the wrong people
8
Amount of information on myself
that is accessible on the Internet
10
No control over
personal data stored
on company servers
9
Uncertainty in case
of data breach
Misuse of my
debit cards
3
Personal-security related Social/image-related
Source: GfK survey among 7,528 online users (18+ years) in 5 countries (AUS, FR, DE, UK, US) – International
average is weighted based on the size of each country proportional to the other countries | Importance: -100
to +100 | *On a scale from 1=feel protected to 5=feel unprotected

4. Interestingly, respondents ranked these same three financial pain points high
on the list of areas where they feel most protected. How is it that consumers say
they are most concerned about finance-related issues, yet also say these areas
are where they feel the safest? Data suggests that consumers trust banks more
than social media, online merchants or public WiFi. One possible explanation is
that while the breach of financial informa- tion or actual theft is of high concern,
consumers also see that banks and other finan- cial institutions act quickly to
provide restitution. This immediate response and highly personalized experience
might help consumers feel as though they have an advocate in the fight to keep
their financial information and assets safe.
On the flipside, recent headlines on breaches have driven home the opposite for
social media platforms, online merchants, and public WiFi: every news article
seems to scream ‘not secure.’ Using financial institutions as an example, the
opportunity for retail, social media and other companies to provide a greater
sense of privacy for consumers is significant.
Who is responsible for our privacy?
Online privacy is clearly top of mind, but the question remains: who is
responsible for the protection of that privacy?
The vast majority of all respondents believe that privacy should be a joint effort,
with the bulk of the responsibility falling to governments and companies. The
majority of respondents, 67%, would like to see more government oversight and
more comprehensive laws enacted to protect users.

5. Consumers have long been left to bear the brunt of unkept or insinuated
promises in regard to privacy. Governments have a long history of protecting
consumers against corpo- rate self-interest, and enacting similar efforts in the
digital world make sense, particularly as more examples come to light of
companies abusing the access they have to personal data.
Respondents fear the misuse of their data, with many of them taking personal
privacy protection into their own hands. In fact, more than 90% of consumers
say they take measures to defend themselves online. This notion suggests
insecurity towards government or company regulations, the demand for and
usage of protection programs is widespread.
How individuals are tackling online privacy?
Most users are not adequately protecting their privacy.
Although the vast majority of users are making some attempt to protect
themselves online and demonstrating a clear desire for greater control of their
personal data, few are doing enough to protect themselves or take back their
privacy.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR PRIVACY? – TOP 2 BOX*
82%
75%
63%
72%
Websites should take measures to ensure customer privacy
Government should protect users’ privacy
More laws and regulations should be passed as part of that effort
Users should protect thier own privacy
0 20 40 60 80 100
Source: GfK survey among 1,504 online users (18+ years) in the US | *On a scale from 1=feel protected to 5=feel unprotected

6. Among the original 83% of US users who consider online privacy a pain point,
60% are doing only the bare minimum to protect themselves or less - the
majority of respondents only use free solutions and are indifferent to their
effectiveness.
These findings suggest that consumers have not found a solution they can trust
or one that puts them in control over their own privacy, as such, they have
been unwilling to spend money for solutions they do not see as effective.
It’s safe to assume that consumers are aware of antivirus and anti-malware
software and that it can protect them from malicious intent. Given that privacy
as a separate cause for concern is relatively new to many, it would not surprise if
existing solutions for this pain point are either unknown or viewed as
non-optional for many consumers.
Without full control over the sharing and use of personal information, the
respondents who have taken steps to protect their privacy have tried everything
from using antivirus programs ( total: 68%, US: 67%), deleting browser history (
total: 56%, US: 58%), using an ad blocker ( total: 35%, US: 35%) or password
manager ( total: 28%, US: 31%), or purchasing a virtual private network (VPN) (
total: 12%, US: 13%).
While many of these solutions offer value, they may be confusing, expensive or
not work well together. What’s more, consumers seemingly confused whether
they keep data secure or private.
I don't do
anything for my
online security
I just do the
absolute minimum
— but don't spend
money
I do what I can —
but don't spend
money
I use advanced
measures & spend
up to $50
I use advanced
measures & spend
more than $50
6% 13%
24%
44%
14%
HOW ACTIVE ARE YOU IN PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY? – TOP 2 BOX*
Source: GfK survey among 1,504 online users (18+ years) in the US | *On a scale from 1=feel protected to 5=feel unprotected

7. After decades of touting virus protection and security, it’s clear consumers have
received the message that they need to keep their data safe. What is surprising,
however, is how few people attempt something as simple (and free!) as
adjusting their privacy settings. Only 25% use a privacy browser and 35% use
cookie blockers. Why? Users may be reluctant to take a simple — and
recommended — measure because the value is not clear, nor is it clear how far
reaching these efforts are. If you block your cookies on one site, does it affect
another? Can you pick and choose and create the privacy profile you want, or is
it one size fits all?
We assume that this level of ambiguity leads to inertia. Consumers want a
simple solution that allows them total control.
WHICH STEPS HAVE YOU TAKEN TO PROTECT YOUR ONLINE PRIVACY? – TOP 2 BOX*
68%
56%
46%
35%
33%
28%
Anti-virus program
Firewall
Delete browsing history and clear cookies
Ad blocker
Privacy setting
Password manager
25%
22%
21%
Privacy browsing
Blocker against cookies
Credit monitoring
11%
Browser add-ons indicating tracking
11%
Switching search engines (e.g. BING instead of Google)
12%
Purchase a VPN
Source: GfK survey among 7,528 online users (18+ years) in 5 countries (AUS, FR, DE, UK, US) – International average is
weighted based on the size of each country proportional to the other countries | *On a scale from 1=feel protected to 5=feel
unprotected | Multiple answers possible

8. Perhaps most enlightening, despite taking these measures to protect their
online data or somehow manage their privacy, a large majority of internet users
still feel their privacy isn’t truly protected and never will be.
While many consumers express a desire for the government or the websites
they use to be more proactive about protecting their privacy, most are willing
and eager to take matters into their own hands. We assume that many
consumers make efforts to protect their information by slowly changing their
online behaviors and sharing less, yet a feeling of hopelessness exists through
the assumption that privacy isn’t really possible.
In turn, consumers are likely to limit their online use by choice instead of feeling
free to benefit from what the internet has to offer.
RESPONDENTS WHO BELIEVE PRIVACY ISN’T POSSIBLE – TOP 2 BOX*
60%
44%
39%
France Germany
39% 39%
Australia United Kingdom
39%
United States
Source: GfK survey among 7,528 online users (18+ years) in 5 countries (AUS, FR, DE, UK, US) – International
average is weighted based on the size of each country proportional to the other countries | *On a scale from
1=completely agree to 5=completely disagree

9. Thus, we feel there is a universal need for a
privacy solution that provides a full suite of
protective measures to cover those
deficiencies and makes controlling privacy
smarter, more transparent and more
effective.
This study was conducted by for
These results are an excerpt of the study “Privacy research: Product feature
study 2018” and are based on 7,528 interviews of online users (aged 18 or over) in
Australia, France, Germany, UK and USA.
The study was commissioned by FigLeaf and conducted by GfK to indicate how
users’ privacy beliefs align with their actions.
The fieldwork was conducted in March 2018. Data are weighted to reflect the
demographic composition of the online population aged 18+ in each market.
The global average given in this release is weighted, based on the size of each
country proportional to the other countries.
About FigLeaf
FigLeaf Inc. is a privacy-first company that offers consumers the choice of total digital privacy across all devices,
anywhere and anytime. Our comprehensive, easy-to-use privacy solution, FigLeafApp, allows consumers to control their
own data, image, reputation and identity online. FigLeafApp empowers individuals with the choice for total digital
privacy, helping them understand what and where data has been exposed, and providing tools to securely share
information in the manner they choose. Available on Mac, Windows, iOS and Android, FigLeaf’s “Privacy by Design”
approach gathers only the information a consumer chooses to share. Our proprietary “zero-knowledge” solution
architecture ensures only the individual consumer holds the key to their identity and no outside party can access their
personal information - not even FigLeaf.
Founded in 2018, FigLeaf is a privately held company with offices in Silicon Valley, London, Kiev, Dubai and Nicosia,
Cyprus. Follow FigLeaf on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, or visit us at https://figleafapp.com to learn more.
FigLeaf: when privacy is a choice, humanity is free.